Just spotted the first bats of the year, there are two of them flying past the east side of my flat as I write. This is not the earliest sighting I have had, that was 26th March 2012, although in… Continue Reading →
Well, here is first bat of the year post for 2021. It was quite likely to have been a Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) or Soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), impossible to tell them apart in flight without a bat detector (The… Continue Reading →
Just seen the first bat of 2020, probably a Pipistrellus pipistrellus or a Pipistrellus pygmaeus (based on previous identifications). I take the bat sighting as a sign of the coming summer. This year is later than most of the years… Continue Reading →
There has just been a shout of Die Fledermaus from the kitchen, nothing to do with the opera by younger Johann Strauss, but Ulli was on the phone to her mother and spotted the first bat of 2015. It was… Continue Reading →
This evening I saw the first bat of 2014, it was probably Pipistrellus pipistrellus or Pipistrellus pygmaeus (based on previous identifications). Interestingly this sighting is later than in the last two years, it was 26th March 2012 and 30th March… Continue Reading →
Der Kaiserstuhl, literally the Emperor’s Chair, a range of hills in south west Germany, is the remains of an extinct volcano rising out of the Upper Rhine Plain like an island, and a fine place to go for a walk…. Continue Reading →
I have just seen the first bats of the year, two of them flying around at the back of my flat. Unfortunately it was just too dark for taking photos. It was flying in roughly clockwise circles at about 12… Continue Reading →
It is strange how some noises can rouse you from a deep sleep to full alertness in a moment. This morning I heard one such noise, a strange voice at about 03:30, the odd thing about this one is that… Continue Reading →
This morning, sitting at breakfast looking out at a dreich and misty Arthur’s Seat, I started scanning the trees nearby, just as something to do. Over the last few years we have seen a wide range of birds around this… Continue Reading →
An Edinburgh lawyer, Anthony Robson, has started a new website listing wildlife sightings in Edinburgh. The web site came about because he had taken a load of wildlife photos over the last year or so, and couldn’t find an on-line… Continue Reading →
I didn’t sleep well last night, no particular reason it just happens sometimes, one consequence of this was that I was awake when the first bird started to sing. At 03:27 a robin (Erithacus rubecula) started singing followed by another… Continue Reading →
Just recently I have been watching, with some amusement, a battle between a pair of property developers and a number of prospective but unwanted tenants. This highly desirable city centre property is a renovation of an older property, but which… Continue Reading →
Some years ago I wrote a post on the need to reduce the population of deer in Scotland, recently concern about Scottish deer population has come back into the news. Due to the amount of snow we have this winter,… Continue Reading →
I have just seen the first bat of the year, it was flying over the cemetery at the back of my flat. Unfortunately it was just too dark for taking photos, I would really like to find out which species… Continue Reading →
The old saying has it that “One swallow doesn’t make a summer”, but having just seen two pass the kitchen window I am hoping that this is the start of spring!
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